Page 99 of Monsterland Mayhem

There’s something in his voice that has all my instincts flaring to life. A feeling of wrongness that I can’t explain. A sense ofwarning, one that makes me want to run.

Except my legs are lead weights, and my head is pounding.

Gods, this isn’t good. This?—

Footsteps on the stairs have me glancing toward the entry to my basement bedroom just as a man with black pants and a white button-down shirt begins to descend.

He’s tall. Wide. Similar in size to Krolic, Catum, and Craze.

An Alpha, I realize, then frown at my knowledge.How do I know that?

How do I even know this is happening?

Maybe… maybe I passed out in the portal and this is just a nightmare.

Or… or none of it ever happened and it was just the most fantastic dream. Until I woke up in reality.

“Miss Marvel?” the deep voice asks, a note of softness underscoring his tone.

I clear my throat and focus on the approaching male, noting the deep lines near his eyes—eyes that are a vibrant blue that contrast with his black hair and pale skin.

He’s handsome.

Undoubtedly so.

But he doesn’t smell right.

Which is strange. My nose isn’t usually this sensitive, but there’s something in his cologne that’s a bit off.Sandalwood,I think.Not the right kind of tree oil.

Krolic smells like cedar and pine.

This Alpha… his scent is too soft. Tooother.

I need the forest.

I needKrolic.

“Hello, Miss Marvel,” the Alpha murmurs, his eyes lighting up as he runs his gaze over me.

I swallow, uncomfortable with his nearness. Hiswrongness. I… I don’t know how I sense any of this, but I’m not going to ignore my instincts. Not when everything else feels so unreliable.

“I’m Tav,” he tells me as he sits beside me on the cot.

“Doctor Tav,” Baroness Clarice interjects, earning a cold look from the Alpha before me. I’m not even sure how I know he’s an Alpha. His size, perhaps. But I’m certain of it now.

And come to think of it, Baroness Clarice… she’s an Alpha, too.

How have I never noticed that before?

She’s tall. Slender. And exceptionally dominant.

Only, I’ve never realized her status. She’s always just been Baroness Clarice, a being of unknown supernatural origin who happened to own the manor I worked within. I never asked questions. Never wondered at her heritage. Just obeyed.

However, I’m innately certain of her classification in this moment, like I suddenly have an awareness for identifying those with Monsterland traits.

Is this a result of the elixir?I wonder.Or have I lost my mind entirely?

“She needs to respect and obey her betters,” Baroness Clarice hisses in response to something Doctor Tav just said. I missed it, too lost in my head to hear. “She’s fully aware of her position. And she will address you asDoctor.”